Bokaro base for industrial force

SUMAN K. SHRIVASTAVA

Gutted vehicles at the camp office of GR Infra Project Limited in Hazaribagh, which was targeted by Maoists in May. File picture

Ranchi, Jan. 5: The much-awaited State Industrial Security Force (SISF) is now reality, with personnel recruited for the unit dedicated to providing protection to industry, which will be headquartered on the JAP-IV campus in Bokaro.

Speaking to The Telegraph, home secretary J.B. Tubid said SISF would provide cover to any industry, bank or commercial establishment, for a fee. "We have framed rules and worked out a formula to charge those establishments using the force," he added.

The force came into being following a significant increase in the number of violent incidents at work sites around the state.

The home secretary pointed out that bankers often raised the issue of security for branches in remote areas and also transporting cash at the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) meeting.

The force, comprising more than 800 personnel, will be headed by a commandant of superintendent of police rank.

The personnel will undergo special training on the lines of Central Industrial Security Force. "They will be trained for four to five months at the Police Training College in Hazaribagh before being deployed at the sites," Tubid said, adding that the force would be trained to suit the varied requirements of different establishments.

The proposal for such a force was mooted in 2005-06, with a provision of providing security for a premium to those seeking it. However, it took almost five years for it to become reality. Jharkhand is now one of the few states in the country to raise a special force for industrial units.

Director general of police (DGP) G.S. Rath said the state government earlier wanted to station the SISF in Ranchi. "But there was hardly any place in the state capital. We have requested Bokaro Steel authorities to give some land to construct the permanent headquarters of SISF," he added.

The state government has been under fire from industry majors and various chambers of commerce representing them for the increasing number of attacks on industrial units, besides construction firms engaged in laying roads.

In an incident on December 29, eight employees of a Gujarat-based construction firm were abducted near Pithoria. While seven men were released, one continues to remain in captivity.

On December 30, a group of suspected rebels opened fire and torched two SUVs outside an under-construction power plant of Abhijeet Group in Chandwa police station area of Latehar, prompting 1,500 workers to leave the site in panic.